Zufli: A Life of Magic
by Vlad Taltos
Summary: Pre-WOW Warcraft. Zufli is a Darkspear troll born during the human invasion of the Echo Isles. Her existence heavily affected by magic, follow her as she learns about the arcane, the harsh world she is in and maybe even leadership. M for tragedy/violence.
1. Born of Magic

If you want to actually read the story, skip down to where it says "Chapter One."

This story is based on the drawing "Magic School" by MattFranklin on deviantart. I've been doing a lot of research about Trolls, magics and the histories of the Warcraft universe, but I have never actually played WOW so if I make a mistake somewhere point it out in a review. Thanks to the WOWWiki for just about everything in this story. On the topic of canon, to quote my favorite FF author, "If there is no official Blizzard explanation, I am allowed to make things up," ("Unlikely Heroes: The Harpy Queen Skrch" by SickleYield).

So, on that note, I am assuming that the troll master (currently unnamed) is adept in Shamanism, Voodoo and any associated witch doctor magic that doesn't fall under those categories (I myself am confused by how "Healing Wave" can be considered Voodoo magic), but that he and most other trolls are not familiar with Arcane magic. Trolls are listed under possible users of Arcane magic, but because it was refined and spread by the humans and elves of the East, I am left wondering how any of the Kalimdor trolls could have learned it. So to make it simple, in this story they haven't.

About the growth rate of trolls. I'm going to assume that young trolls are fully mature and ready to "marry," or whatever the appropriate troll term for it is, at around 14 or 15 human years old. I'm basing this on human cultures that the troll race is based off of. The thing is, how fast do trolls mature compared to humans? As stated above, anything that isn't confirmed or denied as truth by Bethesda it is free for interpretation, so I'm going to say trolls grow much faster than humans, based on the fact that they are able to regenerate wounds quickly, and a 9 year old troll is about the equivalent of a 15 year old human teenager.

Another thing, in WOW trolls stand erect and the male and female bodies are considerably different. In this story I'm basing troll stature on Warcraft 3 and its expansion, in which almost every troll's posture is a haphazard crouch. I'm also throwing out the idea that male and female trolls are significantly different (AKA, females trolls don't have 'jugs'), so there are no blue supermodels running around in my story (this isn't Avatar, people). This is because I want to remove the bullshit changes that blizzard made to the females of almost every race to increase sales at the expense of lore.

Also, in the drawing mentioned above the trolls have five digits on each hand, four fingers and a thumb (At least the elder does, you can't really tell with Zufli). Apparently this is contradictory to game lore, trolls are supposed to have two fingers and a thumb, but I think this incident can be tacked up to creative license. Although I feel compelled to point it out and fix it in my story, don't go yelling at MattFranklin for one tiny mistake, it's still a great drawing. Great enough to inspire a downtrodden amateur writer, at least.

Lastly, this is rated M because I got carried away and made some of the fight scenes a bit... terrifying. Sorry about that. This is why you don't send a pregnant woman into battle.

DISCLAIMER: Dear Blizzard, please take your legal team and shove it. I'm not making any money off of this story, so go ahead. Sue me. I have calculated it, this story is worth exactly 1 ambition, 1 hobby and 3 childhood dreams. Now that that is out of the way, on with the show...

Zufli: A Life Of Magic

Chapter One: Born Of Magic

Dokir was a skilled warrior of the Darkspear tribe, so it was not a surprise she held an above average position for her gender. She had only been fighting for a year and a half, but had made her mark fighting valiantly on the Home Islands against the murlocs as the green-skins led the way out to sea. A few of the other trolls were uncomfortable with Dokir's status, but they gave credit where credit was due.

Her father fought in the same battle, but, like the leader Sen'jin, he didn't live to see the trolls find a home in Kalimdor. Her father's father had spent his entire life fighting the murlocs, and had been good enough that he survived to be assigned the duty of training new warriors. This was part of the reason why her father decided to have her trained to be a warrior, giving her his best axe made of lightweight metal only found on the Home Isles. It was Dokir's grandfather that had taught her how to fight, and she even received advanced training from her father. She also knew a few basic spells, but mostly she had survived the battle that her father and grandfather had not because she was exceptionally fast and she had been closer to the boats when the green-skinned Warchief ordered the final retreat.

When the ragged fleet reached Kalimdor she had helped scout the unfamiliar lands for the green-skins. After that she settled with her fellow Darkspear trolls on the Echo Isles. Because of her father's intent to train her as a warrior and her hard work at achieving this, she had previously had little patience for the attempts the male trolls made for her attention. Once her small hut was constructed, she felt lonely. Her father, the reason she ever became a warrior, was gone. Her grandfather, the man that had taught her how to fight with the savagery of a lion, was gone. So she decided to find a mate.

Dokir was also the opposite of homely, at least from a troll's point of view, so combined with her lineage and prowess in combat she was a catch. She wound up finding a skilled Headhunter, the best in the small village. He was tall, though of course his preferred posture was the haphazard crouch of trolls everywhere because it was better for sneaking through a jungle forest, and this detracted from his hight a great deal. His muscles were lean and sleek, not the bulky and bulging muscles that looked abnormal on a race made be lanky. The two of them progressed quickly and after a few months Dokir found that she was pregnant.

She went to a hermit Witch Doctor who lived nearby and had the pregnancy blessed. The aged troll was a fellow Darkspear from the Home Isles, a rarity as few trolls over forty had survived the exodus, but since arriving he had distanced himself from the other tribe members. Some suspected this was because, after their absorption into the Hoard, the trolls had abandoned or at least attempted to tame the former, barbaric practices. The old Witch Doctor, it was thought, was trying to hold on to the old ways. However, although separated as he was from the tribe, he still felt obligated to perform the traditional ceremonies for those who asked. One did not just _stop _being a Witch Doctor.

Her term was largely uneventful. She only went on short hunting trips for easy prey, and once she started showing she stopped going completely, relying of her mate for food. Being the best Headhunter in the village, she did not have to be worried about going hungry. The solitude while he was out was bearable because he was fast, and therefore could be home quickly. The inactivity was annoying, but after having spent the better part of her life training it was nice to be able to lounge in her hut all day. Sleeping in late, something she did not even comprehend before, was also a luxury she was able to appreciate, unless the occasional bout of mourning sickness woke her.

When she was six months along, about a month before a normal troll pregnancy's due date, disaster struck. Unexpectedly, while her mate was out hunting, humans invaded the Echo Isles.

They came on large ships and overwhelmed the hasty attempt at a counter-attack. Dokir heard the distant explosions and emerged from her hut with a spear in hand. Her hut was situated on the outskirts of the archipelago on the side facing Kalimdor, which meant that the humans were attacking from the other side of the islands and she hoped that meant she was safe for the moment. Just as she was thinking this a small group of humans came into view on the other side of the small island her hut was on. They didn't see her because at the first sign of their approach she had backed into the trees, and she watched as they started to attack the hut that sat across from hers. They were the only two huts on the rather small island, and any trolls that might try to help were fifty feet and a raft ride away, so as the three trolls in the neighboring hut ran out and started defending against the invaders Dokir threw her spear at one of the spell casters. She was close enough, only about fifteen feet away, that she did not have to put much force behind it, which let her charge out just after throwing.

As the male spellcaster's staff fell to the ground the other spellcaster in the group, a female that floated above the ground rather than walking, reflexively turned and threw a ball of energy. Dokir, not expecting such a reaction after a surprise attack, was unprepared and tried to dodge to the side. Normally she would have sucessfully gotten out of the way, but her pregnancy made her slow and the spell was faster than any non-magical projectile. The swirling energy grazed her shoulder and she immediately felt weak. She took a step forward and found that she still had her balance, but when she tried to move it was incredibly slow. Looking up, she saw the floating lady throw something else, it had a different color than the last magical ball, and this one hit her just above the bulge of her womb. She had experienced magical attacks before, occasionally a murloc would get smart enough to cast spells, so she knew that this last hit was a real attack. It wasn't meant to do anything special, just hurt her. The magic would leave a light burn, but the real damage would penetrate deep and not leave any marks. She didn't understand the details, but it would hurt her for about an hour or so and then go away, leaving no trace, inside or out. So that left her with the hope that her child was okay, as long as she survived. Hoping to deter a third spell from the floating lady, she drew a knife underhanded in her direction. It hit the lady blade first in the shoulder, and caused the next spell to go flying harmlessly into the air. Dokir was finally close enough to melee and brought her axe down on the lady's uninjured shoulder. Before she could so much as scream Dokir pulled another knife (she carried more than one) and stabbed her in the eye.

Since the spellcasters were ranged and at the back of the group, the footmen, four still remaining, did not notice Dokir. Of the trolls, one was dead and one was fighting with only a single arm and a short knife, but the third had managed to enter the Berserk state and was doing a large amount of damage to the humans. He charged recklessly into the enemy and brought one down, shrugging off the deep cuts the other humans inflicted, then pounced on a second and brought him to the ground. The one armed troll followed, hitting a footman over the head with the hilt of his knife before jumping back. The disoriented man swung blindly and the troll tried to duck, but the sword caught on his protruding tusk, imbedding itself into the bone. Dokir jumped and cleaved the man's helmet in with her axe, but as she looked at the wounded troll, lying on the ground from the weight of the sword, she saw him loose consciousness from blood loss. The last footman standing skewered the troll berserker, stopping his frantic mauling as he lie on top of the human he had brought down. Then the swordsman looked around, checking to see if there were any more, and saw Dokir just as she pounced. She was still under the affects of the slow spell, so the human had time to raise his rather small shield and her axe sunk through it into his arm, instead of his neck. He pulled away, wrenching the axe from Dokir's hands, and then swung. She jerked back, pulling her last two knives as she did, and started backing up so that it would take a little longer for the man to get to her.

She was not liking the situation. The man was in full armor and had a sword, which could reach much farther than her knives. She could throw one of them, but it would just bounce off the armor. Her only advantage was to let his heavy armor slow him down, and that was counteracted by the spell she was under. Not only that, but she could not let herself get hurt because that would risk the child she was carrying. The man quickly righted himself after his miss so that he would not leave an opening for her to lunge. Then he slowly came forward, knowing he had the advantage. She backed up more, trying to keep distance between them, but she knew eventually she would feel water at her feet. The island was not very big.

Suddenly the swordsman jumped forward and stabbed at her stomach. Knowing she could not let the child be harmed, she sidestepped to the left. Because she was so slow, this alone did not get her far enough away from the sharp metal, so with her right hand she deflected the approaching blade. She felt a sharp pain as the edge slid past the flesh of her hand and arm, but it was better than her stomach. With her left hand she struck at the man's side, sticking him with the knife. She lost grip of her blade as it stuck in the armor, but she knew she needed to get away or he would bring the sword around and kill her. She backed away, raising her right hand to defend herself as she did, only to realize that there was no knife with which to defend. Of her three fingers, her thumb had been cut off when she pushed the sword away and there was a long gash that ran up her arm. Now completely unarmed she started backing away as fast as she could, but the swordsman saw his advantage and struck quickly.

Because of his hasty attack he did not have time to line up a killing stab, so instead of dying on the spot Dokir was just badly cut. The blade sliced partway through her left arm and across her chest, missing her neck by inches, and chipping her collar bone as it went by. Pressing his advantage, he swung the weapon back across her legs, leaving a deep gash on each.

Now in excruciating pain, she fell back, the landing not at all softened by the spell that was still slowing her. Over the bulge of her stomach, the precious cargo that she had to protect, she saw the man stop and pull the knife from his side, then wrench the axe from his shield. He quickly wrapped a bandage tightly around his abdomen and upper arm, keeping an eye on the incapacitated troll before him, and was about to drink a glowing pink potion when suddenly a healing ward materialized right next to Dokir. She felt her wounds beginning to close up, but the loss of blood was already making her feel lightheaded and woozy. The soldier looked around, picking his sword back up as he did, but then he was hit by a spell and turned into a frog. Dokir heard the bottle he had been holding hit the ground. She turned her head and could dimly make out the shape of a troll on a raft coming closer through the fog that was starting to cloud her eyes.

There was a period of black, then she felt a wrinkled hand pull her chin down and pour a strange, fizzy liquid into her mouth. She suddenly could see again and saw the empty bottle of the potion that the warrior had been about to drink. Standing above her she saw the old Witch Doctor that had blessed her child. The precious child, the one that she had to protect.

She didn't hurt anymore, and she could see fine, but she felt her strength slipping away, like water defying the hand that was trying to hold it. From somewhere close by she heard the voice of the hermit saying something, but it only came in brief intervals. "... didn't ya run...not have fought. De potion won't... too much blood... Maybe can save de child..."

She found little meaning in the words, but at the last part her head cleared and she said, "Save de child! Ya have ta... protect de child."

"Dokir... gonna' die! Why... risked de child..."

"No! No, save de child. Promise to... protect de child..."

._._._._._._._._.

The old Witch Doctor looked down on the poor troll's broken body. Her wounds were sealed, the healing ward, healing wave he had cast while she was blacked out, the potion and her natural troll regeneration had seen to that, but she had lost far too much blood. She was very probably going to die. Her body was already attempting to reject the unborn baby, seeing it as a drain on vital resources as her thinning blood brought less and less oxygen to her brain. He knew that if he didn't intervene her body might kill the baby in it's hasty attempt to return to homeostasis. He nimbly picked Dokir up, keeping her body level so as not to harm the child, and brought her over behind a patch of dense woods, out of sight of the fighting that was still going on on the other islands.

A few minutes later Dokir's daughter was born. An hour after that Dokir passed away, after having felt the warmth of her child in her arms.


	2. Magic Training

Chapter Two: Magic Training

Kavu'fon, the grizzly old Witch Doctor, was in quite a predicament, on a harsh archipelago soon to be abandoned by the rest of the tribe, and with a newborn baby to take care of on top of it. Heeding Dokir's dying wish of, "Protect the child," he cleaned the newborn and then swaddled her in a blanket from Dokir's hut. After being fed she quickly fell asleep, so he set the child down and took a look outside. The main invasion was still happening, but the fighting was not close so he went and searched the humans for any more potions. He found a few, along with some week magical trinkets on the female spellcaster, but as he stood near her body he noticed that the corpse was still emanating magical essence. Knowing that, as a troll, the newborn would want some trophy when she was older to testify to her legacy, he stooped down and examined the woman that had almost destroyed a helpless unborn. She was wearing a dress-like attire that was dark blue with strange light blue designs on it and gold trim. There was a fair amount of the swordsman's blood on her from when Dokir had stabbed his side and crushed his arm, and the red spatter made a speckled pattern across the front. But, where the blood had dried and started to flake he noticed that it had not stained the gold trimming, only the blue fabric. It was not actual gold woven into the clothes because he could see the individual strands of colored cloth, so he assumed they were somehow enchanted. Seeing this he stripped the body of its magical clothes, noting as he did how unsightly the human female was.

Looking around he saw the body of the swordsman, now back from its brief time as a frog, that he had killed before tending to Dokir. The axe that the pregnant troll had used to wound him was lying nearby, along with the shield that had been pierced by said weapon. The shield was smaller than those of the other humans, but it was also very light, he found when he picked it up, and it had an emblem on it in the same dark blue color that the other humans boasted. Deciding these would also hold sentimental value, he took them as well. Then he went back for the newborn and brought everything to the safety of his hidden Hut, destroying the healing ward as he went so it would not attract attention. After getting home he laid the child on his hydra-skin cot, not having anywhere else to put her, and sat down for a much needed rest.

As Kavu'fon relaxed and let his mana and strength return he thought about the events of the past few hours. The invasion was not a surprise, he had known for a long time that something was going to happen to the tribe. Ever since arriving after the voyage from the Home Isles he had felt a growing ominousness. That is why he had distanced himself from the tribe. He knew that this would not be the home of the Darkspears, at least not yet, and that they would soon take refuge on the mainland with the green-skins. This was inevitable, what he did was attempt to break himself away from that fate. So when Kavu'fon had heard the sound of explosions he knew that whatever force it was that had come would drive the tribe away, and that it was time to sit in the Hut that he had built specifically to be hard to find and wait it out.

And it was at that moment that, for a reason unknown to him, he felt the urge to check on the unborn he had blessed. Now, he was still a bit confused about how much of the Old Ways was superstitious lunacy and how much was actual magic, after all his spells worked just fine and he never prayed to any Loa in his life, but if there ever was a time in which the Ancestors were trying to tell him something, it was then. He had followed this strange impulse, cautiously leaving his Hut and approaching the edge of he trees that hid it. Staying out of sight, there was an invasion going on after all, he had summoned a sentry ward on the edge of the water so that he could see what was happening. That is how he saw the trolls fighting a small battle against humans. There were no human reinforcements around, so the risk of ruining his plan was low. Then he saw the spear Dokir threw, and the spell in retaliation from the floating lady. Dokir slowed down, and the second spell hit her stomach. It was then that he had jumped onto the raft started paddling like Fel. He had just gotten close enough to be able help when Dokir fell back, having been cut badly. Hoping to save her he summoned the healing ward, then hexed the human and killed him. Seeing Dokir had lost consciousness he had cast healing wave on her, but although it healed her wounds completely it didn't help. He had gone for the potion the man had been about to drink and poured it down Dokir's throat, but even after all he had done Dokir had lost too much blood.

Kavu'fon abruptly came back to the present as the child woke up, having not been fed for almost half an hour. _My Loa, _the aged hermit thought to himself wearily, _why did I get myself into this? As old as I am, raising a young troll alone in a harsh setting is not going to be easy._

_._._._._._._._._._._._

A couple of years passed mostly uneventfully for Kavu'fon and Zufli (that is what he decided to name the child), though the Isles were far from calm. He watched as his tribe fled before the humans, and how the humans left soon after, leaving a small, well defended base on the remains of the village's old center. It was attacked by murlocs and spider crabs a few times, but eventually the stupid creatures realized that assaulting the humans was suicidal. A nearby clan of Stormreaver mages had a bloody coup that lit up one night with flashes of lightning and fire. Zufli had trouble sleeping that night because of the screaming. Then, after a long period of calm, the human settlement was actually challenged by a small swarm of hydra, but the spellcasters eventually organized and polymorphed several of the serpents at once, turning the battle in their favor. The old Witch Doctor kept himself and the child alive by staying well away from any of these groups, holed up in the well hidden and defensible ravine the Hut was in. He feed himself and the young one mostly by fishing out in the sheltered cove that he hid his raft in and growing edible plants near the Hut, as he was far too old to be hunting.

No, the only really important thing that happened to Kavu'fon, safe and sound from any threat, was when Zufli, at two years old, suddenly waved her small hand and set his robe on fire. It was rather unexpected, as most magic performed by infants is, but he was able to put it out before getting burned. After giving a stern look to the child, who quickly stopped her babyish giggling, he started planning on how he was going to train a magic user. Starting training early so that the young troll could establish firm control over her powers was essential. He had been talking to her in both troll and common for a long time, both to eventually teach her to speak and as a way to keep himself sane, so he simply started talking about Voodoo and Magic to introduce her to the subjects.

He found it very strange, however, that she could do magic at all. He had been taught that one had to pray to the Loa and the Ancestors, and by extension you had to know what they were, to have any chance to do magic. Kavu'fon knew this to be false, because he himself simply drew his power from the natural elements and spirits around him. But, even then, he had to be instructed a little about the superstitions of his elders before making that leap on his own and teaching himself how, so he didn't understand how Zufli was able to tap into magic without any instruction at all.

Zufli was walking around before her first magic, so being outside was a bit necessary for her. She was only two feet tall and maybe forty-five pounds, but she had already outgrown the hut for everything except sleeping. She demonstrated her accidental magic several more times in the next few years, but none of it was as dangerous as her debut with the fire. Her first word was her name, because it was the word the Witch Doctor most used around her, but soon after that she was saying other things and some of them she even understood what they meant.

By the time she was two and a half she could speak well enough to be understood. The first thing the hermit tried to teach her was to control her magic, and this was met with surprising success. Then he started on basic magics like making a blade of grass grow or using magic to lessen the noise made when walking. While she was learning these, she also started exploring farther beyond the small clearing around the hut. There where a few short mountains that cut the Hut off from the the rest of the island, so the old hermit let Zufli run off as long as she promised to stay close to the hut and off the mountains. Then he would follow her movements using sentry wards.

She was four the first time she got far enough up the hills that he could not keep track of her. She came back fine, but as soon as she got back he gave her a stern look and she gave a nervous smile, knowing he knew she had done wrong but not sure how he knew. Then he said, "Come wit' me, young one."

._._._._._._._.

Zufli knew she was in for it now. _E'chuta, _she thought to herself. She didn't know exactly what that meant, but she had heard Kavu'fon say it a few times under his breath when he was angry or in a situation that was not good. That was definitely the way she would describe her current situation. _Not good._ She followed the old Witch Doctor as he led the way out of the clearing around the Hut, along the water's edge to where the raft was kept. She had never been on the raft before. They only stayed on it until they were out of the ravin and into water that was a bit open, then they beached, hid the raft and started walking. They went far, much farther from the Hut than Zufli had ever been, and she was starting to get nervous. What would the punishment be? She had disobeyed him before on small things, but he had made it clear that it was important to stay close to the Hut. Suddenly Kavu'fon stopped and held his hand up. He turned around slowly and whispered, "Use magic to walk quietly," then fell into a crouch, joints cracking as he did, and slowly led the way off into the dense jungle to the left. Zufli followed, doing as she was told. She still hadn't really gotten the manipulation of magic required to pull it off, but her time spent playing in the trees near the house and her natural troll stealthiness helped her stay quiet.

Again Kavu'fon stopped. He appeared to be looking at something, and this time he motioned for her to come forward. She did, coming up to the edge of the trees and looking out. She saw a small encampment of what looked like the green-skins Kavu'fon had described to her, although she did see a few trolls among them. Most of them were bent and crooked, and they were all carrying staffs, so she guessed they could do magic. Wondering why he brought her here, she looked up and Kavu'fon, but he had a look of concentration on his face so she did not ask. After a few seconds the old Witch Doctor seemed to relax and looked down at Zufli. Then he said, "Look, near the entrance to the camp." He pointed and she saw a turtle as big as her with large spikes on it's back sitting just outside the encampment where there had not been one before. As she watched it charged at the green-skins, catching them by surprise. Every person in the encampment unleashed a volley of spells and magic that hit the turtle. It slowed, and before it could get close enough to hurt any of the green-skins it vanished with a crackle of lightning.

"Time ta go," the old hermit said and quickly fell back farther into the trees. Zufli followed, and caught up as Kavu'fon turned to face her in a small clearing. He made a gesture at the jungle they had just come from and she saw two wards pop into existence. Then they zigzagged through more jungle, Kavu'fon dropping another ward every so often, until they made it back to the raft, which they rode to the Hut.

Once they were safe again Kavu'fon set a sentry ward at the inlet of the cove the hut was near, just in case the Stormreavers were somehow able to track the difficult trail they had left, and turned to Zufli. She looked down, not being able to meet his eyes, and he said, "Zufli, look up." She complied ashamedly, and he continued, "Now ya see why ya not supposed ta be wanderin' de Isles?"

"Yes Kavu'fon."

Letting a second pass, he asked, "Why ya not supposed to be wanderin' de Isles?"

"Because, uh... T'ere be dangerous t'ings on de Isles."

"So, knowin' dat, why ya be goin' up de mountains earlier?"

She mumbled, "I don' know, I guess I just be getting bored o' seeing de same old t'ing..."

She trailed off and Kavu'fon said, "Zufli, de mountains and de jungles around here be the only t'ing protectin' us from what lurks on d'ese Isles. Ya can't be goin' farther out d'an dat."

Zufli didn't leave the valley after that for a long time, practicing sneaking and tracking only in the small patch of jungle around the Hut.

The day after the little incident she started asking about the people that they had seen, and Kavu'fon told her about the Stormreaver Warlocks. They were a band of renegade warlocks, mostly orc but with a few trolls, that stayed to the dangerous interior of the island because it dissuaded most people from getting near them. They were also rather powerful magic users, so they could defend themselves well from the other things on the island. This subject led to more about magic and soon Zufli was learning about summoning and collecting mana from the surrounding life and spirits (or, as Kavu'fon explained it to her, what he thought were spirits. He was not sure what they were). Zufli learned the proper way to access mana, but once she finally tapped into the source Kavu'fon showed her, she found it felt weird. She could use mana, she had been able to since before she was even able to think, but that mana and the mana Kavu'fon taught her to find were very different. She found that they were similar, in that she could use them both to do spells, but it was like they had their own flavor. She tried to explain this to the old Witch Doctor.

The aged troll took a few minutes to ponder the information before saying, "I t'ink I know what happened, de problem is d'ere is no way ta be sure. I been wondering about how ya be using magic before ya be able ta get ta de mana. Now, I been tellin' ya before about yo' parents, but when yo' mom be fightin' de human witch, she took a spell to de stomach. Dat is where ya where, inside o' her. I t'ink, when de spell hit ya, it changed ya and made ya able ta use de human magics. It would explain how ya could be doin' magic before ya could even talk."

This intrigued Zufli. She was a little angry that the race that killed her mother was somehow connected with her, but on the other hand she liked the feel of _her_ mana. It was familiar, more so than the mana Kavu'fon used, because she was used to using it more.

"Okay, so, which one should I use?" she asked.

"For now, I t'ink ya should use de one I taught ya. I' not sure what will happen if ya be doin' anyt'ing complex with yo' magic."

From there she began learning more complex magic. Kavu'fon had her practice her old spells of growth and stealth with the new mana so that she got better with it. He told her that she should be able to draw the nature energy to herself all the time, not even needing to think about it. Once she was able to do that, which took her two months of practice, she started to learn the basics of transfiguration. That was a step up from the growth spells. It took her several weeks before she was able to consistently change a four inch long lizard into a worm for ten seconds. When she started playing around with the same spell using _her_ mana (she felt very strongly that it was _hers_), she found that it was much easier and much more powerful that way, but she didn't tell Kavu'fon that. She just used the "normal" mana when she was around him.

After she was good enough to practice that on her own Kavu'fon started on summoning. He explained that there were spirits of living things all around that had not passed on and were not restless enough to harm the physical world as undead. These spirits could be summoned by giving them the energy needed to take physical form again. He told her that there were other ways to summon as well, but most of them involved demon magics that were evil and summoned things from other worlds that were difficult to control.

Kavu'fon taught her the technique to search the area for the spirits, then told to her try to summon something. It took her a few tries to successfully locate a spirit, or at least what she thought was a spirit. Kavu'fon had instructed her to concentrate on it and try to study it, so she sat there for a while trying to understand the creature/spirit thing. She was able to tell that it was small and it moved around a lot, but most of the time it seamed to be above her. The longer she looked at it (hypothetically, because she was not using her eyes to observe the thing), the more she learned about it. Thinking she was ready to try and summon it, she pushed energy at it and tried convey that she wanted it to use the energy to come to the physical world. It took a while longer than she thought it would, but eventually she felt mana start to flow to her hands and before she knew it the form of a bird was shimmering in the air in front of her, with ragged arching bands of blue energy connecting it with each of her hands. She felt the mana waning and the glowing strands that connected her with the bird dispersed, but it's darkly colored form solidified and continued to flutter just in front of her, held in the physical world by the creature's force of will and Zufli's magic.

She noticed that she seemed to have some sort of mental connection with the inky bird, and when she reacher a finger out it perched on the digit immediately. She smiled, realizing that she had actually created the living thing in front of her. It was a bit surreal. Lifting her arm and with a quick thought, she had the bird take flight and circle around the Hut. Unfortunately, it vanished in a shower of sparks only a few seconds after she set it loose, but when she turned to Kavu'fon she saw his large toothy grin of pride.

"Taz'dingo! Ha, dat was brilliant, mon! I haven't seen a first try dat good in a long time."

Kavu'fon called it a night after that, when Zufli said her mana was too low to try again. At least, the mana that counted was. She knew she still had a fair amount of _her _mana, but she was not going to try to summon with that anytime soon because the combination might react badly and have harmful effects. Zufli was too tired from her exertion to practice on her own, so she just went to bed.

._._._._._._._._._._._.

Zufli woke suddenly. She bolted upright in her cot, looking around the small enclosure that was her room, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She listened, trying to catch the noise that had woken her, and when she heard it again it was distant so she almost missed it. The soft _whoosh _of a stun ward going off was just barely discernible through the thin walls of the Hut. Then she felt mana being drawn up nearby, probably by Kavu'fon, and the sound of fighting quickly filled the night air. They were being attacked.


	3. Stormreaver Trouble

Chapter Three: Stormreaver Trouble

Before Zufli could react Kavu'fon burst in, staff in hand and stuffing objects into the pockets of his robes as he did. "Come on, we got ta go!" he whispered urgently. "I stalled dem, but it won' stop dem fo' long." She jumped out of her cot wearing only her night clothes but barely noticing as it was never cold on the Echo Isles, even at night. Kavu'fon led the way out a window at the back of the small Hut. She heard a strange _clink _when the old Witch Doctor made the short jump, but didn't want to ask in fear of giving away their position. They made a break for the trees as the clamor behind them started to quiet. They didn't go far into the trees, but instead turned sharply and moved along the edge of the clearing, away from the water. Zufli saw the logic in this, the attacking things would think they had run deeper into the woods.

And it was then, just after observing the logic of her mentor, that she learned she was not the only thing that could creep in the night. With a mumbled, "E'chuta," from Kavu'fon, she felt a sudden draw of mana to her right next and, moving like a striking snake, he grabbed her and pulled them both behind a tree. A bolt of blue lightning lit up a few feet of the forest but she didn't feel anything and Kavu'fon did not clench in pain, so the magic seemed to have missed. She lost track of what was happening for a second because she was unceremoniously dumped as soon as she was out of the line of fire. Zufli righted herself just in time to see a large green form fall over, eyes and mouth smoking from the magic that had just passed through it's head. She looked around, but nothing moved close by so she hoped the skirmish was over. Cautiously she whispered, "Kavu'fon? Are you t'ere?"

"Yes, I' here. I t'ink dat was de only one, come on" He answered. He summoned three more wards, one she recognized as a stun ward and two that looked like they were half pole and half serpent. The stun ward faded into invisibility while at the same time Kavu'fon drew up mana again, producing a large spike-shelled and eerily familiar turtle. Zufli noticed it was much scarier up close, both because of its size and the razor sharp forest of blades on its back. Looking diminished Kavu'fon pulled a slightly luminescent blue potion from his robes, then took one long swig that drained it before moving on. _Dat explains de noise when he jumped out de window, and how he was able ta summon so much stuff twice in a row, _she thought to herself before following.

The fight had been very close to the Hut and its magical nature would have set it off like a beacon to the attacking Warlocks (that was all they could be if they knew such powerful magic), so they sprinted to put distance between them and the site. Zufli could soon hear the old hermit wheezing and wondered if it was loud enough to give them away. They reached the edge of the clearing again and they both peered out, trying to see what was happening. There position was close to the cove, about fifty yards from the Hut with the opposite side of the field fairly close because the clearing narrowed here. Having been out playing at night just as much as in the day and being of a race well suited to nocturnal activity Zufli had good night vision, so she saw the figures heading towards the disturbance they had made, and she saw a prone and presumably dead form where Kavu'fon's first summons had fought.

Then she heard the aged troll say, "Dey be about ta find de turtle. We gonna run over to de o'der side o' de clearing when dey do. Wait fo' it, d'ough." They sat for a few seconds and she heard, "Now!" They both took off across the open stretch, hearing the _whoosh _of the stun ward going off clearly because there were no trees to deaden the noise. Soon other sounds were heard, most notably the screaming of Warlocks, the crackling of lightning and the bellowing of a giant reptile. The two trolls made it to the safety of the trees again just as the second battle was drawing to a close. They moved back near the Hut, which Zufli had mixed feelings about due to their extreme closeness to the attackers. They got so close that they were able to hear the Warlocks talking in a grunting dialect of Common that was difficult to understand, with an occasional orcish or troll swear thrown in. Zufli wondered for a moment where the brute had learned any troll.

"Stop running into traps, you Fel damned idiots! Spread out and find him or I'll have your tusks for earrings! A simple cursed sneak attack on an old hermit, and five of you dead, you simpletons. (There was an incomprehensible sound then that probably was an orcish curse) The boss is gonna be so pi... wait, five? E'chuta! Form up! Get back here, you sons of reptiles, stick together from now on! Don't you understand he is getting the better of us because we keep splitting up? Well, I guess you probably don't, you think skulled..."

The voice continued, but Zufli was having trouble understanding the heavy accent so she tuned it out. Four large figures emerged from the tree line on the other side of the clearing. They quickly came together around the largest middle form and made their way toward the Hut. As they got closer Zufli could hear the leader muttering something about his subordinates' mothers' mating preferences. Then the brute raised his voice even louder and it seemed he was intentionaly throwing his voice out to the woods.

"Well, I guess our work here is done, boys. We chased off the COWARD that lived here, but I think the boss will be happy if I get some practice in while we're out! This Hut looks like a good target, what do you guys think?"

He started to draw up his mana and made a gesture. Zufli Watched in horror, but Kavu'fon had apparently decided to act and dropped a stun ward right in the middle of the Warlocks. It did not go off immediately, as it was supposed to be used for traps and had a delay, so Kavu'fon hexed the leader into a small crab. The energy that the orc had still been channeling dissipated harmlessly over the Hut. Zufli sensed the magical retaliation and dove farther back into the jungle, and she saw the aged Witch Doctor follow. He summoned something from the safety of the trees, then downed another blue potion and ran out into the battle. Zufli went as far as the tree line to see what was happening, and saw the three lesser orc magic-users and one summoned crab fighting hard against a serpent ward, a murloc, an old Witch Doctor. Through the fighting she saw the small crab, ignored by Kav'ufon because of the more threatening targets, trying to pinch the stun ward to destroy it before it went off. She saw the summoned murloc nearly cleave the head off one of the enemies before being struck by an intense bolt of lightning that killed it in one hit. Not knowing exactly what to do to help, she drew up some of the "normal" mana and threw it, completely formlessly, at the green-skin that had just finished off the murloc. It struck him in the chest and he flinched, then fell to the ground and rose again seconds later, continuing his volley of magic. Another sentry ward popped into existence and distracted the surviving Warlocks while Kavu'fon moved in and attacked the crab that was gnawing at the base of the still inactive stun ward.

Just as as the leader returned to his normal form with a dramatic crackle of electricity, the stun ward went off. The recently hexed brute and the larger of the two other green-skins were caught in the pulse of magic, falling on the spot, but the smallest was just out of range. While Kavu'fon and the two wards finished off the stunned enemies, the smallest enemy ducked out of range and ran for the closest trees. That just happened to be directly at Zufli.

Not panicking, because she had a sudden confidence that she could pull it off, she drew up _her _mana, concentrated on the approaching Warlock, and turned him into a lizard. The drain was much more than she expected, probably because that was the largest creature she had ever hexed, but the result was satisfactory. Moving out of the trees, she looked over at Kavu'fon and saw he had finished with the leader and the wards had killed their victim as well. The old Troll came over to the young one and saw what she had managed to do, standing on the lizard's tail so it could not escape.

"Zufli, dis be impressive. I' surprised dat he not back ta normal yet."

She grimaced at what she was about to say and then let it spill. "Actually, Kav'fon, I used, um, de ot'er type o' mana. I' sorry, but I' been practicin' and I found dat it be workin' better dat way."

He looked critically at her for a second, then said, "Zufli, it' fine, I don' care that ya used yo' unique type o' magic. Dis is not practice, in a life o' deat' situation ya do what ya need ta do ta stay alive."

The lizard jerked once, then quickly grew back into the shape of a bent green-skin. As soon as the orc's head was where it should be a three-fingered fist collided with it. He went down swearing incomprehensibly and Kavu'fon followed. When he was right in the face of the injured enemy he said, "Don' go doin' anyt'in' stupid. I' can' make no promises, but it will be easier for ya if ya tell me what I want. Now, how did ya find my Hut?"

It took a second for the green-skin to answer, and when he did it was thick, indicating a bloody nose at the least and a stupid orc at the most. Zufli wondered immediately if their leader's previous remarks had been more serious than they had seemed at the time. "The Boss felt your magic when you summoned that turtle to scout our camp. We followed your tracks and ran into trouble, as you probably know because you summoned the wards. When we found the tracks led to the shore we thought maybe it had been the murlocs, but the Boss ordered patrols near that area just in case. Then the first patrol came back and said they felt summoning magic and Galkot led this war party to investigate." He finished and Kavu'fon was silent for a few seconds. Zufli knew him well enough to know that it meant he was thinking, so she did not interrupt.

"What was dat spell yo' leader, Galkot, was about ta use on my Hut?"

"No clue, that was something the Boss taught him from the book the Boss is always reading. It's about magic, and he learned stuff from it that made him powerful." He shot a glance at kavu'fon, then said, "I don't know where the Fel you come from, but around here tusk-mouths aren't very good at magic. Boss learned everything he knew from the book and it was enough to put him solidly at the top of our band of Warlocks. He taught some of the stronger ones this really powerful lightning stuff, and the spell Galkot was about to use was a special thing the Boss had taught him personally. Then Boss sent the war party here, led by him."

"Ya said 'war party.' How many are left at yo' camp?" he asked finally. The green-skin hesitated then, looking torn about giving up information that might lead to an attack on his camp, but he was smacked upside the head. "Do ya want ta find out what happens to yo' normal body if I turn ya into a lizard, cut of ya tail and let ya transform back? I' give ya a hint, it doesn' just heal over. Now answer de question."

"Uh, there about te... no, um, thirty. There are about thirty of-"

Kavu'fon smacked the orc across the face with the end of his staff. "Yo' camp won' hold thirty orcs, ya idiot! Now tell me de truth!" He emphasized his point by casting something at the green-skin's legs. The spell didn't seem to have any immediate affect, so Zufli assumed it was just for bodily damage.

"AHH! That hurt you... Just... E'chuta," it took a moment for the minor warlock to be able to answer without swearing. "It's just the Boss, a bodyguard and the boss's kid. That's it, I swear! They sent everybody else in a big group so that they would be more protected, but that idiot Galkot had us split up and try to surround the Hut of yours."

"Kid? D'ere be a child in yo' camp?"

The green-skin glanced at Zufli, in her night clothes that she had made to cover very little to combat the stiflingly humid nights while she was alone in her room, and made a very inaccurate assumption. "Oh, you're like that, huh? Well, uh, yeah, he's the Boss's pro-dig-aye, or something. Happened when he got feisty with a she-troll a few years ago after a raid. I'd hate to be that kid, Boss drills him like there's no tomorrow on that book and when he makes a mistake, or sometimes just when he's mad, Boss beats him to a pulp."

Zufli saw the orc take another glance at her and her blood boiled. Reaching down, she found a rock twice as big as her fist and threw it from close range at the male's groin. "Look at me again, ya pervert, and I' do worse dan dat." He fell to the ground and she spat on him, then said, "And I hope ya feel ashamed dat ya were beat by a four year old girl." Then she turned to Kavu'fon and saw a surprised, but not angry, look on his face.

He went on as if nothing had happened. "Wait, troll? What ya talkin' about, de child is trollkind?"

"Oh, you haven't picked up on that yet? What do you think I meant by 'tusk-mouth?' Boss is a troll, stupid. He's not blue like you though, he's green."

Kavu'fon sent Zufli to the Hut then, and she left grudgingly. She had quickly grown to hate the orc and half wanted to have to see it happen. Or maybe do it herself.


	4. Heritage and Monikers

AN/ See if you can spot the Johnny Cash reference...

Chapter Four: Heritage and Monikers

While she was waiting Zufli took the time to put on some more modest clothing. When Kavu'fon returned Zufli started right off with, "Kavu'fon, I' not sure we should be leavin' d'ese guys alone. De 'Boss' guy sounds bad, and dey will know where we are when no one comes back. If we attack, o' maybe set up a trap outside d'ere camp, we could get rid o' dem." She didn't say anything about the young troll that was there, being beaten by the "Boss."

"Yes, I agree. And if we do dis, we must go soon to keep de element of surprise, but first ya will need somet'ing." He went into his room and she heard him rummaging around, then he returned and handed her a worn, yet very sharp axe. It was much lighter than it looked, she noticed, but it was still bulky for her small hands and a little difficult to handle. "Dis was yo' mot'er's before she died, and it was her father's before her. It be made o' a metal dat is only found on de Home Isles, and may be de last of it' kind. I t'ink ya are ready fo' it."

Zufli, daughter of Dokir, looked at the axe that had been in her family for generations with a mixture of deference and a lack thereof. She acknowledged that this was a symbol of her heritage, but she also saw it as a weapon that she was likely to be using soon, and that it was not time to ogle at the dulled, but intricate, designs.

"Anyway, ya need ta know how ta defend yo'self in case... Well, ya need ta know." With that he proceeded to show her the basics of axe wielding. After fifteen minutes of that he made a broth with special ingredients in it to counteract the weariness they were starting to feel, they had both fought a battle in the middle of the night with only a few hours sleep after all. Then they set off to kill a Warlock.

Kavu'fon summoned a murloc and two stun wards outside and picked the wards up, which he explained was so that they would not have to be summoned near their magic-sensitive enemies. He outlined the plan as they stalked through the jungle. He was going to sneak close to the camp and put one of the wards near the entrance. Then he was going to stealth around through the woods until he was about halfway between the entrance and the back of the camp and set the second ward. After waiting for a few minutes to make sure Kavu'fon had time to do this, Zufli would draw up magic right near the entrance. When someone came to investigate Kavu'fon would attack from behind, and he had the stun ward to protect his back if he needed to retreat. The summoned murloc would stay with Zufli so that if for some reason anyone attacked her instead of turning to the Witch Doctor she would have a good chance at escaping while the murloc distracted them.

The extra murloc was unnecessary because the plan went perfectly. The bodyguard set off the first ward, Kavu'fon hexed the troll leader as he ran toward the commotion and a small swarm of summoned creatures attacked the two defenseless Warlocks. The only surprise was when a young troll came out of a tent, saw as his father was turned into a crab and threw a powerful lightning spell, not at Kavu'fon, but at the crab. Then a giant turtle, larger than the last one at about five feet in diameter, started tearing the crab apart with its sharp beak. The bodyguard came to before the two summoned murlocs could kill him, but had only managed to kill one when the turtle finished with the transfigured leader and charged him.

The young troll kept his eyes on Kavu'fon, mana brought up and watching the enemy child but not attacking. The aged Witch Doctor was cautious, and rightly so given the power of the spell the boy had cast, but eventually yelled out of the trees, "I' not gonna hurt ya, but let yo' mana fall so I can come out peaceful, 'kay?"

The was a pause before the boy said, "Why should I trust you?" He kept his mana drawn.

"Because if I wanted ta kill ya I would just tell dis ta do it for me." At his words the turtle lumbered over, large for its kind and formidable even to an accomplished spellcaster.

"Alright, now show yourself!" The young troll relaxed slightly and let his mana slip away, keeping a wary eye the on the turtle.

Kavu'fon emerged from the trees and yelled, "Zufli! Come on up!" Then he calmly walked closer, examining the youth as he did. Unlike his father, he was as blue as any Darkspear tribe troll, but his hair was cropped into the mohawk of a green-skin native. He was dressed like a prince, with elegant robes that did not impede movement or magic use. Kavu'fon thought for a moment about what this might mean and said, "So, what be ya name?"

"Sha'alith." He pronounced the "th" in the correct human way instead of cutting it off with a "t" like a normal troll tongue would. "Yours?" he asked

"I' Kavu'fon." He paused for a second, still assessing the situation. "Why did ya attack yo' fat'er? Dat be a mighty strange t'ing ta do."

"I attacked him because he was a sadistic asshole. Why did you?"

The old troll raised an eyebrow at such an obviously defiant, yet cunning retort. It was hard to believe he was only a little older than Zufli's age, he seemed to have entered adolescence early. "Same reason, but I didn' know dat for sure. It was de fact dat he sent de people dat tried ta destroy my Hut dat I wanted him dead."

Zufli arrived then, coming up behind Kavu'fon. The summoned creatures were starting to vanish with crackles of electricity, and a few of her hairs were standing on end. She observed the other child, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw her. She noticed the look in his eyes were not hungry, like the evil man-orc's eyes had been. His pointed ears, which were currently flattened showing his confusion, already had several piercings despite his young age. However, the earrings were not the loops that Kavu'fon and her wore but what looked like long fangs, which accented his stubbing tusks. He did not wear a portion of his hair tied up into a bun on the top of his head. His clothes were similar to Kavu'fon's robes, but lighter and with less layers. His gazed fell to the axe in her hand and she hefted it, more of a nervous gesture than anything. Hoping he had not been corrupted by the horrible adults he had been around, she walked to Kavu'fon's side and said, "Hi."

"Hi," was his curt reply. She thought he sounded almost annoyed and it startled her, though she didn't have a clue what she had expected.

"Zufli, this is Sha'alith," he said, replacing the ending with _ph_ to best replicate the sound. Then he turned back to the boy and said, "So, we be goin' soon. I understand if ya don' like us for attackin' yo' tribe, but if ya got no place else ta go den ya can come wit' us. It will be hard ta find food alone, but I won' force ya." He paused for a while here letting him think it over.

._._._._._._._._._.

Sha'alith considered his options. He held no resentment at all for the death of his father, he had been hoping to overthrow the tyrant himself as soon as he was powerful enough. Add to that the fact that he had been wishing for a real family ever since he was old enough to wish and the decision was easy. However, he was wary of Kavu'fon because he had power. He was the leader. In Sha'alith's limited world, anyone with power would use it to their advantage. Maybe someone would have a little heart and show someone else a kindness, the orc father-son pair in the camp (who were now dead, he remembered) would work together and help each other in battle more than anyone else in the group, but the father still passed his manual work down to his son so he did not have to do it. He was tuned to that type of cutthroat attitude, and this made him not only cynical but untrusting of real kindness. Too many times he had fallen for, "Hey, boy, want some of this loot?" only to have the shiny jewel snatched away at the last second and then being laughed at for falling for it.

"Alright, I'll go wit' you, but you better not try and trick me." Zufli turned then to leave but he said, "Wait! Aren't you going to take all de stuff? We got a lot of good stuff here."

Zufli stayed close to Kavu'fon while they searched the camp. Sha'alith found the book about magic, it was in the largest of the tents in the camp, and he gave it to Kavu'fon who tucked it into his robes. He separated from them and returned later with a small purse filled with gold, a piece of armor and an ornate short sword. He abruptly said, "Dis was my fat'er's and I claim it."

Kavu'fon said, "Alright, d'ere yo's," and continued searching. They filled a sack with valuables and potions, another smaller one held the few magical items that were found, and a third held gold and silver coins. When they were done a small tent, Sha'alith's, was taken down and packed (by Sha'alith, because only he knew how to do it) and Kavu'fon summoned three small murlocs to help carry everything. Sha'alith decided to take several things from his tent, so he had the largest burden other than the murlocs, but he did not complain once and from what Zufli could sense of his mood seemed to take pride in being able to carry _his _stuff on his own. They made it back to the Hut just as the sun was coming up. Feeling exhausted from being up all night and the fighting, Zufli went to bed as soon as she could, not stopping to help the two others set up the tent for Sha'alith. It was not like she would have been any help with it anyway.

._._._._._._._._._.

The addition of Sha'alith dramatically changed the group dynamic of the Hut. Kavu'fon gave him some basic rules, like no violence or stealing, and he told him about how far he could go. The small clearing, the jungle and the bases of the mountain were safe, if he decided to go beyond that he was at risk of being killed. It wasn't off-limits, he could go if he wanted to, but if he did it was at his own risk.

When Zufli woke up after the attack Kavu'fon warned her to stay wary of the new boy. He told her that he had set a few sentry wards around the clearing, so if she was going to talk to him to do it near one of them. After that he shortened her magic lessons while he read through the book of magic. Because she didn't have much to do she decided to talk to Sha'alith and get to know him better. She went outside and started moving toward his tent when...

"Zufli?"

She hadn't noticed Sha'alith poke his head out of the tent flap. She stopped and they looked at each other for a second, then she awkwardly said, "Yes?"

He stepped out of the tent fully. "What is Kavu'fon like? He isn't mean at all?" The tent was a good distance away from the Hut, so the chance of Kavu'fon hearing was minimal.

Like last night, she was struck by the fact that he didn't seem to be responding appropriately to the situation. He was talking to a girl of his age and race, and he did so like it was nothing. Trying to keep the same cool head that he was, she responded, "No, he' not mean. He' never, um, ya know, hit me or anyt'ing." She said it lightly, knowing what Sha'alith's father had done. Changing the subject, she said, "Why ya talk like dat?"

"What do you mean? I don't talk funny, you do."

Zufli thought for a second about that. Kavu'fon was the only person she had talked to before this, and he talked like the trolls that he had grown up with. She used that as a counter, "But I talk like Kavu'fon, and he talks like de ot'er Darkspear trolls."

"Oh," he said, then paused for an uncomfortable second. "Is, um... Is that where you two come from?" He started to walk as he said it and next thing they knew they were walking around the clearing.

"Yeah, my mot'er and fat'er were Darkspear trolls and Kavu'fon left de tribe when he sensed de Human invasion."

"Wait, he isn't your dad? I t'ought he was."

"No, my mot'er died when I was born, but not 'cause I was bein' born. She was hurt in de invasion and Kavu'fon saved me. He tried ta save her as well, but she loss' a lot o' blood. Dis," she hefted the axe that she was becoming accustomed to carrying around with her, "was my mot'er's. My father was huntin' when it started and he eit'er died as well, or went wit' de ot'er trolls ta de mainland. All I know is, he never came ta check on my mot'er o' me, Kavu'fon left a sentry ward ta see if he came ta de hut, and he didn' come back."

._._._._._._._._.

Sha'alith was sad at Zufli's loss, and the confusion she must have on the subject. He was also touched that she had shared something so personal. In the world he grew up in, that was like handing a weapon over to someone who you knew would use it against you. Deciding to reciprocate the show of trust, he said, "My mot'er was a blue-skin troll too. My fat'er caught her scouting alone for your tribe and, um, dat's how, well, um..."

He trailed off and Zufli didn't push it. After a moment she said, "So, about ya talkin' funny. Why, do ya say yo' name all human-like, but ya say "fat'er" like I do?"

"I don't know, dat is how it is said." He slowly pronounced his name for her, " _'th' _is part of it, so I just learned it dat way. I don't know why I say everyt'ing else normal."

She giggled and he looked over. "I' sorry, it just sounds like a girl name when ya slow it down like dat." His face grew purple then, a natural color for trolls if they were embarrassed. This almost made her giggle harder but she caught the curve of his lips as they contorted into an anguishing sneer. She was taken aback by how many emotions seemed to be shown from the strange facial gesticulation.

Anger won out over everything else he was feeling and he yelled, "Yeah, I know! My dad did dat so he could get drunk and laugh at me! Anyway, why are you making fun of my name? 'Zufli?' I might not be as good with troll as you, because I didn't have someone to cared enough to teach me, but it sounds like 'baby witch' to me! Baby!" With that he ran back into his tent, leaving Zufli with tears in her eyes.


	5. Practice and Heirlooms

Chapter Five: Practice And Heirlooms

Zufli and Sha'alith stayed mad at each other for, oh, about a day. Immediately afterward Sha'alith remembered the moment of confidence he had felt with her, when he told her about his mother, and felt horrible for how he had acted. Zufli cried for a few minutes and then threw herself into practicing her summoning, feeling a moment of comfort in her bird companion. The next day Sha'alith apologized, then they started showing each other some of the things they could do with magic. Soon it was forgotten.

Kavu'fon saw the fight through a nearby ward and was ready to intervene if the boy did something, but was surprised when Sha'alith did not resort to violence. From his violent background, Kavu'fon expected him to get mad and attack, and instead he used his skills of manipulation to hit a very hard verbal blow. He never started to draw on his mana, which left the old Witch Doctor pleasantly surprised. It seemed he was in control of himself well enough to be trusted. He knew kids disagreed all the time, so the spat did not worry him.

When Kavu'fon finished the book, which was called "The Works Of Shamen: A Collection Of Storm Magic" and in which he found some disturbingly powerful lightning spells, he started the daily training again. He made an edited copy of the book, with the most dangerous and destructive spells removed, and made it available for the two young trolls to read on their own if they so wished. With training in operation again Zufli made fast progress with her summoning, soon she was able to keep her bird spirit tethered to the physical world for a minute and she was getting even better all the time. Sha'alith, on the other hand, knew little about magic other than the basic, though powerful, attack spells from the book. So, while Zufli learned more about attack magic and how to use her axe, Sha'alith was learning the basics of less aggressive spells. Although it created tension, the fact that the two were competitive in their learning was a good motivator. Sha'alith cited the fact that she could use two different types of magic as a reason for her continually superior performance.

._._._._._._._._._._._._.

Time passed. Lots of it.

Zufli grew to be taller than normal, and though she became a bit stockier it was nothing compared to the way humans used the term. "Stocky" to a human usually conjures a mental picture of a person with built arms and muscles, and a troll's lanky nature made such things impossible. Though strong, her body did not show it in such ways. She was somewhat bigger than Sha'alith, which irked him to no end because he was older. Her tracking, sneaking and hunting abilities were all honed until she could creep up on either of the two males at any time of day. Her axe, originally rather big for her, lost most of its already light weight as her arms adjusted to its regular use. A new weapon was introduced to her when Kavu'fon carved a practice spear for her, and soon her size and skill level called for a full one, which she used to hunt things larger than the small mammals that had previously made up her available game. As she grew, her mana, both types, grew with her. Some of this was because of the mana-building exercises Kavu'fon put her through but they didn't affect her special mana, which seemed to grow without help from her. She mastered summoning her small dark bird, whom she named Nightfeather because of his pigmentation, and started using him to scout over the mountains, the human base and other islands in the archipelago. Kavu'fon also taught her the complex techniques used to call wards and how to tame larger spirits before summoning them to do her bidding. _Her _mana, although she found it could be used in desperate cases, was less practical for these more advanced Witch Doctor magics and it saddened her that she almost never used it anymore. She felt she was wasting a gift that should give her an advantage, and it frustrated her.

Kavu'fon monopolized on Sha'alith's sly cunning and his ability to manipulate, teaching him logic, reasoning and how to talk his way out of situations. Being manipulative himself, though for a good cause, Kavufon's lessons indirectly taught the young troll that violence was not the only solution. It helped the young troll learn to stay calm and in control for small disagreements, and how to try and avoid battle if he ever found himself away from the Hut and faced with a humanoid adversary. Another reason for the focus on his oratory skills was because, unlike Zufli, he was not very talented in summoning and wound up being able to Hex only the smallest and least magic-resistant of creatures. Like Zufli's, his mana grew because of the mana-building exercises, but not as fast or to the same extent as hers. His strength in relation to witchcraft was storm magic, probably because of his father's adeptness in the same field. However, the attack aspects of the destructive sorcery were just part of it. Sha'alith found himself a few spells from "De Book," as he and Zufli called the edited reference book provided by Kavu'fon, which had more elaborate effects than just physical harm. There was a spell called Purge in it that was supposed to cleanse a target of all magical interference, good or bad, and cause the target's body to clench, leaving them sluggish and jerky for a few minutes. After tinkering with the power and mechanics of the spell for a while (several months), and with a little help form Kavu'fon, he was able to alter and customize it. He could now remove the magic from a person with very little interference to the body, and he could go the opposite way and completely paralyze the victim with lightning. Another affect he discovered was that it seemed to fry a little bit of mana as well. He tried to refine the spell more, such as focus on mana destruction or maybe select only certain magical affects to be purged, but found it was impossible for him to control the energies at such a fine level.

Then there was what the two could accomplish together. With her newfound abilities and his adept persuasion skills, by the time she was six and he was seven they were able to convince Kavu'fon that it was safe to go explore some of the island. From then on they would occasionally go out around the mountains, following the path to Sha'alith's old camp, and explore the jungle. Nightfeather would always be keeping watch from the sky, so they only occasionally ran into trouble.

Because of the strain on food that Sha'alith brought, the two years between him joining the group and the first expedition were a bit lean. No one starved, but for the first time in her life Zufli experienced real hunger, so once they were able to leave she expanded her hunting range and prey. She always took precautions with Nightfeater on lookout and plenty of mana on hand to summon and run if she stumbled into anything dangerous. Soon after the first exploratory voyage into the jungle she was going out and taking down small lone hydra and occasionally diminutive variants of the overgrown turtles to supplement the meager diet of fish and plants. She never grew out of her distaste of fish.

There were a few times when Zufli ran into trouble. Three were on hunts and one was while she and Sha'alith explored. All of the times it was because nearby enemies, usually easily avoided, were attracted by fighting. On the hunts it was because Zufli had missed clean, silent kills with her spear and the creature being hunted screamed in pain and rage. When Sha'alith had been with her they were arguing about something stupid when several large Hydra heard them. In all of the situations she summoned wards and creatures, exhausting her mana but buying time, then ran as fast as she could. In the encounter Sha'alith was in he decided to throw a few lightning spells before retreating and received a scar, a necklace of hydra teeth and a near death experience for his trouble. The wound he received was a large slice on his upper arm from a poisoned fang, so Zufli had been forced to field test the incredibly difficult Healing Wave spell that Kavu'fon had taught her only a few days prior. Because of the poison it didn't heal quite right and the result was a large burn-like scar. Sha'alith didn't complain about how far ahead of him she was for a long time after that.

._._._._._._._._.

By the time she was twelve Zufli knew everything Kavu'fon was able to teach. She was at the age where normally a child would leave and make a home for themselves, but because they were already in the only safe place on the island she could not go far and the idea of leaving was a bit pointless. However it did mark her independence from Kavu'fon and that she was an adult, so Kavu'fon decided it was time to present her with the items he had saved for her from the battle that her mother died in.

"Zufli," she heard him say one night.

It was late, so she was in her room playing with Nightfeather and getting ready for bed. "Yes?"

"Come here, I have somet'ing fo' ya." She threw her day clothes back on and went to see what the old Witch Doctor wanted. Sha'alith poked his head out of his room to see what was happening, but stayed back, unsure if anyone was in trouble. Kavu'fon was standing outside his bedroom door holding an unfamiliar staff in one hand and a bundle of gold-trimmed clothing in the other. "Zufli, when yo' mot'er died I took some t'ings from de battlefield. Now dat ya are old enough I t'ink ya should 'ave dem." He stepped forward and held the staff out. It was made of a gnarled branch with three forks, the middle continuing up and the two short side branches poking out almost perpendicularly to form a crude cross. Securely tied to the junction of the forks was a small kite shield with a dark blue emblem on it. The most noticeable feature was the large rent in the metal of the shield, directly across the emblem. "De staff has a amulet in it dat I grew inta' it. It will increase yo' mana when ya hold it. Dis shield on de staff was wielded by de man dat hurt yo' mot'er. De hole is where she, d'ough gravely wounded, crushed t'rough ta his arm. Carry it in memory o' her bravery an' sacrifice." Zufli reached out and took the staff, immediately noticing the mana around her thicken when she touched it. Moving past that, she brought the shield close to her face, inspecting the bent metal and mangled patterns of blue with wide eyes. Nightfeather flew over and hovered awkwardly in front of it to get a good look at the metal, but found no purchase and settled down weightlessly on Zufli's shoulder.

Before she could muster a response he continued. "D'ere be more." He unrolled the colorful garment and handed it to her. "Dis be enchanted cloth. I don' know what it does, but it was worn by de witch dat almost killed ya in de womb. She is de one dat, I believe, caused ya ta be able ta use de human magics. De pattern o' red at de top is de blood of de man who held de shield," he motioned at the staff in her hands. "Wear dis and remember dat, d'ough ya were small and defenseless, ya survived and came out stronger dan ever. Ya survived an' dey did not"

It might be prudent here to point out how very different trolls are from humans. A teenage human girl would probably run away screaming if presented with such ghastly reminders of the violence that had resulted in the death of at least one and probably both of her parents. Zufli, being much more hardened to violence, instead took them just as Kavu'fon said, as a totem to her mothers bravery and as a witness to her own resilience and strength.

"Um, t'ank you, Kavu'fon," she said. She looked back up at the old Witch Doctor surprise still evident upon her face. "I don' know what ta say."

"Ya don't have ta say not'in' at all. It be gettin' late, ya should get ta bed."

._._._._._._._._._._._._.

After Kavu'fon taught Zufli everything he could, he decided to give her the original version of "De Book" and let her teach herself. After looking through the spells that had been edited out she found the one that seemed to be the most powerful and started learning it. It was called Monsoon and a scrawled note under the instructions described it. "A storm that calls forth bolts of lightning over a large area. After initial casting, constant attention is needed to control the lightning and target only enemies, leaving the caster vulnerable to attack. Spell is extremely powerful and uses incredible amounts of mana. Will leave the caster drained for a variable, but generally long period of time. If in battle, use with extreme caution." She saw this spell as the culmination of Shamanism and put time towards it, but not as much as Kavu'fon would have had her do if he was teaching her the spell.

Instead, with her independence from the structured lessons Kavu'fon had given her, she had more time to practice areas of magic other than the Witch Doctor spells Kavu'fon taught her. She looked through "De Book" for a anything that worked well with her type of mana, but didn't find anything. She had already mastered Hex using her mana and tampering around with it could not make it better than it already was, so she went to the first page of "De Book," found the most basic lightning spell in it and practiced it using her mana. It was still highly inefficient in its energy consumption but the extra mana her new staff gave her made it possible, if still difficult. Once she had a good handle on it she started contorting the magic, much like what she had observed Sha'alith do when he crafted his variations of Purge. She had tried her hand at this type of magical engineering before with the mana Kavu'fon had taught her, but the forces she was medaling with had seemed to be resisting her every move. Now, when she started altering the lightning with her own mana she found that it was much easier maneuver the subtle energies.

The outcome was rather startling. While playing around with "De Book's" instructed way to call forth the lightning, she tried to force the magic to happen with less than the needed mana. There was a bright flash and a puff of heat, but she noticed a lack of the ambient static electricity that usually formed when using lightning spells. She did it again and studied how the lack of energy affected the spell, kept the altered version of the spell and added more energy. She didn't make an all-powerful lightning spell, but she did reinvent fire.

After she first discovered how to summon fire Zufli had difficulty replicating the results. She found the fire took very little mana, that was not the problem, it was just that it was hard to get the mana to turn into fire because it was so different from anything else she had done before. Knowing all she needed to do was practice, she threw herself into improving her technique. She focused so much that she inadvertently cut back heavily on hunting and practicing Monsoon. Several alterations and weeks of constant practice later and she was able to call a small fire at will without burning herself (another setback was that she kept having to use mana for Healing Wave on her hands, and although it used a different mana it still left her exhausted). When she was good enough to start creating an attack spell out of the formless fire she found it took much less energy than any attack magic from "De Book." She could not be happier; she had finally found a practical use for her mana.

._._._._._._._._.

While Zufli was busy delving into unknown magic, Sha'alith was still diligently practicing his more modest magical skills. Being a year older than Zufli, he had gained 'permission' to leave if he wished, but that didn't help the fact that being alone on the dangerous island with no secret hut to retreat to would be certain death. Because he was still nowhere near Zufli's skill, when he stayed he asked Kavu'fon to judge how much Witch Doctor magic he could ever reasonably master and teach him that much. He knew it was not even close to Zufli's ability, but he wanted to be the best that he was able. Knowing he would not ever be able to summon or hex efficiently, Kavu'fon set the goal of learning just Healing Wave, because focusing on one branch alone was doable.

It took him the year between his and Zufli's passages into adulthood, but about the same time she stumbled unto the summoning of fire Sha'alith was able to cast a weak Healing Wave consistently. His strength was still storm magic, so now that he had Witchcraft under his belt (as well as it ever would be), he turned to the spell that Zufli had been practicing, Monsoon. He borrowed the original version of "De Book" and carefully copied everything about the powerful spell so that he could read it over as many times as he needed without having to worry about giving the book back. Then he tackled the spell head on, practicing the technique and trying to understand the reasons behind them. The texts did not lie, the spell needed an immense amount of energy. His mana reserves were substantial, but he knew they were nothing to Zufli's and he was worried if he even had enough for the spell so he started doing the old mana-building exercises Kavu'fon used to incorporate into his lessons.

To Sha'alith's delight, his progress with Monsoon went much faster than it had with Healing wave. He was back in his element and everything came easily. Within two weeks he had completed all preparations and was ready to try the spell.

All was well with the small world that the three trolls lived inn. Zufli was rectifying a lifelong disappointment, Sha'alith was finally ahead of Zufli in something, and Kavu'fon was able to let his old body rest instead of getting up early every morning to whip two young trolls into shape. No one noticed the dark cloud brewing on the horizon.

AN/ I just found an age comparison guide for races in the WOW wiki and found that, though I was correct in assuming trolls age faster than humans, it is not quite as fast as I predicted. It says humans reach full adulthood at age 20 and trolls reach it at 17. An intelligent person (human, that is) can reach full sentience by 14, and that is what I mean by 'adult,' so the same conversion is not too far off from my 9 year old estimate. In the story I didn't stick to that estimate anyway, so this ramble is completely pointless.

I have found while writing this that the accent for trolls, which is based on Jamaican, is much more fun to write than Zoiks's speech impediment from my other story. This is one reson why I think this story can go the distance.

I drew a map of the Echo Isles for this story, but deviantart would not let me upload it. :( When I get it to work I'll tell you where you can find it.


	6. Aint Big Enough For The Two Of Us

AN/ This is the link to the map I drew for this story. You have to take out the parentheses. http:/ryanasmith94(.)deviantart(.)com/art/Map-for-Zufli-A-Life-Of-Magic-198827511

Chapter Six: 'Aint Big Enough For The Two Of Us

Zufli woke one morning eager to get started on her magic. Her first practical spell that she had fashioned for her mana was a basic fireball that she could shoot at incredible speeds, but comparing it to "De Book's" spells is was analogous to a standard lightning attack. She knew that she could make more powerful fire spells by imitating other more advanced lightning spells from "De Book," and was so excited by the idea that she almost forgot to summon Nightfeather for his usual survey of the island.

As she rifled through the pages looking for a technique that was easily adaptable to her fire magic, she was abruptly interrupted by a feeling of panic from Nightfeather. Letting her mind go blank, she received a vague impression of many humans. As always, she could tell exactly where Nightfeather was, above the Human base, so to get a better picture of what was happening she summoned a sentry ward near the coast on the hill that obscured the Hut from the sea. Because of the high vantage point she could see over the trees on the nearby island to the settlement. The usually undermanned but heavily fortified outpost was filled with soldiers and more were arriving as she watched from several large ships. The force was so big, in fact, that a few of the ships hadn't even stopped at the base and were unloading onto the other nearby islands, bringing them much closer to the Hut than usual.

"Kavu'fon!" she yelled. Her practice field was behind the hut on the slope of the wooded hill that kept the Hut concealed, so it didn't take the aged troll long to arrive. She could feel a bit of mana being sucked from the air, a sign that he was drawing it to him in preparation of an attack.

"What is it, Zufli?"

"De human base. Dere be more of dem. Lots. Dey be comin' on ships, t'ousands o' dem."

"Ah, e'chuta! Dat not good. No, not good at all. Why are dey here? Der is not'ing on de Isles dey would want." He called a sentry ward and watched the spectacle for a few seconds, then said, "Ya got ta stop practicin' magic fo a while. A group dat big, dey got ta have at least one powerful mage who will be able ta sense any potent spells."

For the next few days everyone kept the magic use to a minimum, which resulted in extreme boredom for Zufli and Sha'alith as practicing magic was their main activity. For something to do they organized a constant watch of the human scouting parties that came anywhere near them. Zufli's sentry ward saw every person who left the encampments in their direction, and they set up a post at the small mouth of the cove in case anyone decided to go poking around near the hut. There were three heavily wooded islands that helped to screen the opening of the ravine from open water, and that helped everyone feel somewhat safe. Even so, with the number of patrols it was just a matter of time before they discovered the Hut.

The constant search and hunting parties sent out by the humans stirred up the inhabitants of the island, so about a week after they main force arrived a large swarm of hydra attacked. It had the typical planning of a hydra attack, with the organization of a semi-intelligent being and the lack of foresight of a wild animal. Because the attack was from all sides, at night and the wounds inflicted by the hydra were infected with magic-resistant poison, the human forces took a fair amount of casualties. Because of the horrendous difference in numbers, every hydra was slaughtered. The leader, an ancient hydra almost twenty feet long, was the last to fall after destroying one of the large ships the humans had arrived on with a spray of some sort of acid-poison. Her many enormous teeth were passed out as medals for surviving the battle.

The scouting parties slowed then but by no means stopped, and the group's luck ran out anyway. One night a few days after the battle, Zufli was watching the ravine when she saw a rowboat slip silently between two of the outer islands and head towards the cove. She sprang up and sprinted back to the hut, easily staying out of sight of the boat, and she got to the Hut just in time.

"Kavu'fon, Sha'alith!" she said urgently but quietly as she entered the Hut. "De humans are here!"

They were both in their beds and she heard them jumped up, throwing on clothes. Sha'alith had moved into the hut a while ago, forgoing the tent. Through the door to his room the old troll asked, "How many were dere? How long do we have?"

"Dere was a boatful, a dozen o' dem maybe. Dey be in de cove now!"

Kavu'fon emerged with his staff in hand. "Sha'alith! Hurry! Zufli, follow me." The younger male came out then, carrying a cloth sack of coins and the ornate short sword he had taken from his father. She had forgot he even had it until then, it hadn't left Sha'alith's room since he arrived apparently. Kavu'fon placed a stun ward just inside the door and they set off towards the woods, the scene eerily familiar to Zufli. Everyone stopped where there was a good view of the path leading to Hut. The group of humans were soon approaching the old structure, and it was large enough that it was probably the whole group, so there would be no scouts prowling the jungle that they might run into. The humans reached the Hut and stopped, then two went inside and suddenly all but three in the group went rigid and fell to the ground.

Taking this as the cue to attack, both Kavu'fon and Zufli summoned creatures and serpent wards around the group, then ran forward to cast Hex on any leaders. Sha'alith had an idea, however, and stayed in the trees. He focused on the area above the hut and, using methods that he had only read about before, caused a small cluster of clouds to form. As he did so he melded his consciousness with the energy he was creating. It was sort of like the bond between summoner and summoned, but more difficult to achieve. When he had done that he was able to spectrally 'see' down from the storm and, once there was enough energy, he attempted unleashing powerful bolts of lightning down on the humans.

Zufli didn't notice that Sha'alith wasn't bodily in the attack. She charged, joining the fight first with her basic fireball spell shot from the staff in her left hand and the spears from her back that she threw with her right. This permanently took down two of the swordsmen and wounded several, but the fireballs didn't do as much damage as she thought and were less accurate. The summoned creatures had made a large dent in the forces while they were paralyzed, but as soon as the humans started getting up they began coalescing into a unit. Spotting the female mage that was regrouping the fighters, Zufli turned her into a lizard. She had exhausted almost all of her 'normal' mana in the first wave of summoning, and her 'special' mana was about a quarter gone from the Hex and fireballs. Now out of spears and only about fifty percent accurate with her magic attacks, she closed in, drawing her axe and entering the melee. She came out of nowhere, or so it seemed to the humans, and cleaved into the helm of a footman. She blasted a fireball into the chest of another as he moved to attack, then sent another ball of flames through a hole in the fighting towards where the spell casters were and hit one in the shoulder. The organization was hampered with the leader unable to command, but the several heavily armored footmen and the three remaining mages were turning the tide on the smaller group of summoned animals and wards. The battle was taking a turn for the worse, so she quickly cut into a distracted soldier's arm with her axe before falling back. The injured enemy flinched and turned, but was then gutted by one of Kavu'fon's murlocs.

While Zufli backed away warily, three armored men finished off a nearby giant turtle and they all turned on her. They were still about ten feet away so she launched three fireballs in quick succession. At the close range they all hit the one in the center and he went down, though she wasn't sure if he was dead. Using the last of her mana, she turned the closer one into a crab and then the final one was on her. He swung his weapon, but she deflected it with the shield attached to her staff. The swordsman recovered from the overbalance and quickly snapped his blade up, catching her arm. Seeing he had the advantage, he smiled and brought his sword up for a final blow, when suddenly he was struck by an incredibly powerful bolt of lightning from the sky and exploded, sending bits of flesh and metal everywhere. The first shot must have extra forceful, because as flashes of electricity started falling all around her on the remaining humans none of them exploded.

Ten seconds later the lightning stopped. Her arm hurt immensely, easily the most pain she had ever felt, but it had a strange distance to it. She got up and looked around, spotting Kavu'fon as he limped toward her, leaning heavily on his staff.

AN/ I think I'm almost done with this story. There always a first time for everything...


End file.
